Mah True Home
by Almost an Actress
Summary: A retelling of how Applejack got her cutie mark. She is made fun of horribly about being a blank flank and being a "hick." She goes to live with her Aunt and Uncle, but eventually discovers her true home.


The orange filly backed against the wall of the school, praying that their teacher would show up. "Now, ya'll go away!" she whimpered with a Southern accent.

"Hick!" a purple unicorn snorted. She was a dark purple with a pink mane. She was wearing a golden tiara on her head. Her name was Crystal Crown.

Her crony, a golden-yellow Earth Pony with a silver mane, grinned wickedly. "You're so lame!" she said. Her name was Golden Chalice. They had both recently become big sisters, and were bossing their little sisters around as much as they bossed the orange filly around.

"Why do ya'll hate me so much?" Applejack asked. "I never did ya'll no harm!" Her blonde mane was streaked with sweat. It was extremely hot today, but those bullies had stolen her cowfilly hat!

"Because you're a lamebrain hick with no talent," Crystal Crown retorted.

"Ah'm good at some things!" Applejack cried angrily. "Ah'm good at… at… makin' lemonade!"

"That's not gonna get you a cutie mark," Golden Chalice said nastily. Her cutie mark was a beautiful golden chalice, sparkling with an almost unearthly shine. She'd gotten it a year ago.

Crystal Crown's cutie mark was a crown made of clear, clean crystal. It glimmered and shimmered like fireflies on a summer evening.  
And Applejack's cutie mark? Well, she didn't have one. She was blank flank. She sighed. "Ya'll let me go now," she commanded wearily. "Ah'll work on gettin' mah cutie mark."

Since their victim's fear was gone, Crystal Crown let Applejack go. "You have fun being a no-account farm hick!" she called after the orange filly.

Applejack ran away as fast at her short legs would carry her. She kept running until she was sweaty and out of breath. The young pony ran into her house.

"Hey, sweetie," Granny creaked. It seemed like Granny Smith had always been old. "How was yer day at school?"

Applejack didn't answer, running up the wooden stairs to her room.

"No need to be rude!" Granny chastised. "S'okay if yer was day bad, sure. Don't take it out on us!"

Applejack turned on her heel, furious. She stomped back down the stairs. "Granny!" she whined. "Ya'll don't understand what it's like for me! Ya never do! Because yer… yer… old!" She ran back up the stairs, tears running down her cheeks. Nopony understood what it was like to be teased and called horrible names all day. She knew she had an accent, but it wasn't her fault! Her ancestors had all been Southern. "Nopony understands," she whispered into her pillow. "Ah'd get rid 'a this accent if ah could." She shook her head. "No," she said slowly. "I'd get rid a'… of… of… this accent if ah… I… could." She felt happy for the first time in weeks. "I'd get rid of this accent if I could!" she cried.

Her brother, Big Macintosh, came walking into the room they shared. "Sis?" he asked in his already-deep voice. "Why ya yakkin' like one 'a them city ponies?"

Applejack rolled her green eyes. "Because," she said carefully, trying to lose her accent, "I'm… not… a… hick."

"A what now?" the red colt asked. He was twelve years old, in sixth grade! He should know what a hick was! Applejack was nine, in fourth grade. Even _she_ knew what a hick was!

"Ya'll… you dunno… you don't know-" The words got twisted around in her mouth, making her feel sort of lightheaded and screwy. She took a deep breath. "You don't know… what a hick is?"

"Naw. Ah dunno what a hick is. Ya'll should ask baby Apple Bloom!" he glared. "If yer sooo smart alluva sudden!"

"Don't… make fun 'a… of… me," Applejack shouted slowly. "I'm losing this lame accent! You want to know what a hick is, Big Mac?" She was angry, fired up. "It's you! It's me! Hicks are farm workers! Lame, Southern workers! They have horrible accents, horrible grades, and they're horribly _stupid_!" In her mind, she was screaming. This was the most she'd said without her accent!

Big Mac's eyes went watery. "Ya'll callin' me stupid?" he whimpered. Suddenly, his eyes hardened. "Ya'll callin' me stupid?" he roared. "Ya'll tryin' t' lose a God-given accent?"

"I don't need religion!" the orange filly cried. This was untrue. Even before he parents had died, they had gone to church regularly. Granny still dragged them there every Sunday. In secret, AJ had always liked going to church. It made her feel important yet humble. "I don't need a… a… crappy hick religion!"

"Dontcha be usin' that kinda language!" the red colt shouted.

Applejack sat aboard the train, clutching her pack. She looked out of the windows. The simple, smart, happy ponies of Ponyville melted into one another, creating a brightly-colored blur. Applejack wished she had one of those fancy musical things. 'No, AJ!' she shouted at herself in her mind. 'It's called I-Hoof. I wish I had an I-Hoof. You're not a country bumpkin anymore, you hear?' She opened her pack, looking at the picture of the last time she had been truly happy.

It was taken a day before her parents had died. It showed her Mama and Papa. Papa had his big, strong hooves on Big Mac's shoulders. Papa was a big brown stallion. He had always been firm and steady and kind. Mama was hugging Applejack. She was a light pink mare. Mama wasn't Southern like most of the Apple Family. She had changed a lot to fall in love with Papa. Granny Smith was holding Apple Bloom and cooing to the baby. AJ felt a few tears slip down her face before falling into a troubled sleep.

The train jolted to a clacking stop. AJ woke up with a start. "Oh!" she said. She shoved the photo back in her pack, and shrugged it on. She trotted off the train, her eyes going wide. Manehattan! She gasped. "Oh, my!"

"Hey! Move it!" a big blue stallion barked. He huffed and stomped past the stricken filly.

AJ gulped and tried to make herself blend in with the socialites. She raised her head proudly, putting on a snooty air. She trotted daintily, all while freaking out on the inside. She suddenly realized why skyscrapers were called skyscrapers. They were so beautiful and tall, their very tips seeming to grope for the sky. The dark was settling in softly. Buildings suddenly lit up. It was almost as bright as day! She was so used to the darkness of the farm, that the lights shimmered and dazzled before her.

"Hey," came a silky voice, "a young filly such as yourself shouldn't be out after dark in a city like this. It can be dangerous."

Applejack looked up into the kindly face of a gray stallion. "Sorry, sir," she drawled. "Ah'm pretty far away from home. Ah don't quite know the score yet."

"You _are_ certainly far away from home," the gray stallion chuckled. "What's your name, little one?"

AJ knew that she shouldn't talk to strangers, but this stallion seemed so kind… She smiled. "Applejack."

"I'm Byron," the stallion smiled. "What brings you to a city like Manehattan?"

"Well, ah'm from a farm," Applejack started carefully. She stopped. "Why should I tell you?" she asked rudely.

"I'm just trying to be nice," Byron said.

"Sorry," AJ muttered. "Ah'm just pretty lonely and mixed up night now." She told Byron everything.

"I'm sorry, little one," Byron said. He took Applejack's small orange hoof in his big gray one. "How about I take you to your Aunt and Uncle's apartment?"

"That'd be nice," Applejack smiled. They walked, hoof-in-hoof to her Aunt and Uncle's apartment building.

"You know which apartment number it is?" Byron asked when they were in front of the building.

"Yes, thank you," Applejack said. "Ah'm trying to lose my accent," she suddenly explained.

"Hmm…" Byron mused. "You didn't tell me that part. I like your little accent. It's cute and charming."

"But ah'm a hick," the filly muttered glumly. "If ah have this dumb ol' accent, ah feel stupid. When ah don't have it, ah feel all smart and sophisticated. That's the word, right?"

Byron nodded, and then looked away for a moment.

Applejack felt like she had made him mad. "Did I make you mad?" she asked quietly.

"No," the gray stallion said with a smile. "No you didn't. Don't worry little one. You should probably be getting on inside. Your Aunt and Uncle will be worried."

"Okay…" Applejack said quietly. There was a pause. "Yer m'best friend in the city. Will ah be able to see you again, or is this goodbye forever?"

"Only time will tell, little one," Byron smiled. "A word of advice: stay true to yourself. Be who you are. Who you really are, not who you wish you were." With that, he walked away.

Applejack shook her head to keep the tears from coming. She walked into the lobby of the building. "Does the Orange Family live here?" she asked the receptionist without her accent.

"Yes," the mare said. She didn't look up.

"Thanks," AJ said with a pause. "Um… where are the stairs?"

The receptionist looked up from her newspaper. "You're not from around here, I presume. The elevator's right there." She pointed.

"Uh… the what?" AJ asked, confused.

"Come on," the receptionist mare snapped. She dragged AJ over to the wall. There were two big metal doors. "You push this button to go up." The mare pushed a square white button. The doors opened, revealing a tiny room. "Get in," the mare instructed.

"Yes ma'am," AJ said. She trotted into the tiny room.

"You push this button to go up to their floor." The mare pushed another white square with the number "5" next to it. The tiny room rumbled and grumbled, and then the metal doors opened. "That's how you use an elevator," she said in a dry voice.

AJ walked out of the elevator. She knocked on her Aunt and Uncle's door.

The dinner party was the most boring, awkward thing Applejack had ever been to. The food was tiny, and she had to take even tinier bites. Her mane ached in the roots from being up in a beehive like that. Her throat was aching from trying to alter her accent so much.

"So, how are you liking good old Manehattan?" a snobby socialite stallion asked.

Applejack took a deep breath, trying to get the rawness out of her throat. "I like it," she forced out. "Although, all of this city noise takes some getting used to. In Ponyville, you don't hear much before the rooster cock-a-doodle-doos."

"Rooster?"

"Rooster?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, how country!"

"What's a rooster?"

Applejack looked out of the window. She wanted her family… Suddenly, a beautiful rainbow shot across the sky. It led straight back to Ponyville! She loosed the pins from her mane and tail. She dropped her fake socialite accent. She packed her bags.

"Granny! Granny Smith!" a red colt shouted. He began to cry with joy. "Applejack's comin' home!"

The old mare and young colt dashed out to meet the filly. "Young'un!" Granny Smith cried. "Ah knew ya'd come t' yer senses!"

AJ hugged her brother and Granny. Suddenly, three apples popped up on her leg. "Hey!" she drawled. "Ah've got m'cutie mark! Ah knew it! This is mah true home!"


End file.
